Irish continue to move up in poll
By Eric Chanowich and Eric Sendelbach
For the first time in three weeks, all of the unbeaten college football teams remained unbeaten.
Of course, "all" now includes only Miami and Ohio State. The Hurricanes had a week off, while the Buckeyes got all they could handle from a meager Illinois squad.
After multiple second half lead changes, Illinois kicker John Gockman sent the game into overtime with a 48-yard field goal as regulation time expired. Maurice Hall, half of the tandem filling in for injured freshman halfback Maurice Clarett, scored on an 8-yard scamper to give the Buckeyes a 23-16 lead in the first overtime.
It took two questionable possession-related calls on end zone passes to keep the Illini from tying the game on their ensuing possession. Despite their perfect record, poor performances of late and a weak strength-of-schedule leaves the Buckeyes at No. 4 in this week's Sendwich Index. The Illini dropped only two spots to No. 62.
Ohio State may face their stiffest challenge of the season against archrival Michigan next Saturday. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they should have Clarett and his 6.0 yards per carry back in the lineup.
Additionally, the game is being played in Columbus, where the Buckeyes are a much better team. Ohio State's average margin of victory at home is 26 points, despite playing opponents with an average winning percentage of .600, and the Buckeyes have won by an average of only six points on the road this year, though those opponents have an average winning percentage of just .420.
The Red Raider Invader
There was an aerial assault in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday but the only casualty was the Texas Longhorns' national championship hopes.
Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury completed 38 of 60 passes for an incredible 473 yards and six touchdowns, while throwing zero interceptions in an upset victory over Texas.
The Longhorns' Chris Simms kept the game close with 345 yards and four touchdowns of his own, but it was Kingsbury who struck last with 5:44 remaining, to give the Red Raiders a 42-38 win in a see-saw contest. With the win, the Red Raiders jumped 14 places to round out the top 25 this week, while Texas slipped three spots to No. 13.
Kingsbury, who hasn't thrown for fewer than 268 yards in a game all year, clearly got the best of a fifth-ranked Texas defense that came into the game allowing an average of only 125 passing yards per game.
So we can't help but wonder why Kingsbury isn't considered a frontrunner, or even a contender, in the Heisman race? Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey leads ESPN.com's mock Heisman voting, while Kingsbury is nowhere to be found in the list of candidates.
On the year, Dorsey has completed 152 of 279 passes for 2,265 yards, 18 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, good for a quarterback rating of 141.8. Meanwhile, Kingsbury has completed 432 of 634 for 4,455 yards, 41 touchdowns, and only ten interceptions, giving him a quarterback rating 145.4.
Of course, Kingsbury has thrown the ball over twice as many times as Dorsey, but the Red Raider invader still has a better completion percentage, quarterback rating, and touchdown to interception ratio. Furthermore, opposing defenses know that Kingsbury is throwing the ball nearly every down but they still can't stop him, whereas Dorsey has No. 2 Heisman contender Willis McGahee lining up in his backfield.
Safe to say, if we had a Heisman ballot, Kingsbury would be No. 1 on it.
Texas Tech concludes its regular season against No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman this Saturday. Should the Red Raiders somehow defeat the Sooners, Texas Tech will win the Big XVII South division and face Colorado, who has already clinched the North Division, in the conference championship with an automatic BCS bid at stake.
Sendwich Corruption?
Despite recent suggestions that the Sendwich Index is more corrupt than Richard Nixon and Enron combined, we assure you that Notre Dame is indeed earning its No. 2 ranking in our computerized ranking system.
The Irish, who have faced one of the toughest schedules in the country and emerged with only one loss, were able to move up one spot this week, as they slipped by former No. 2 Oklahoma when the Sooners took a major hit to their strength-of-schedule from the Texas loss.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer. Contact Eric Chanowich at echanowic@nd.edu and Eric Sendelbach at esendelba@nd.edu.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 19, 2002
